


Reassurance

by Davechicken



Series: Kylux - Fluff & Angst [164]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-11
Updated: 2017-02-11
Packaged: 2018-09-23 15:49:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9664157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Davechicken/pseuds/Davechicken
Summary: Hux doesn't sleep through, most nights.





	

Hux wakes in the night, and he always has. He’s never been one to stay asleep for long, and it’s never done him harm. He’s always had a tablet by the side of the bed, and if his mind stirred him from dreams, he’d simply read, or watch something, until it was ready to go back to sleep. 

It’s never been a problem. He’s never felt distressed by his broken nights, and he always wakes feeling relatively refreshed, so what’s the point in making a big deal of it? The medic he asked, once, said if he didn’t feel any ill-effects then not to worry, and so he hasn’t since then.

There were no ill-effects, but he did find it difficult to adjust to not sleeping alone, once he and Kylo finally worked out that the lightning-rod anger was… well. Better serviced in other ways. 

Kylo burned so hot, and that was fine to a point, but then it became _too_ hot, and Hux had to alter the room’s nocturnal temperature to cope with the hunk of pale fire that smothered him with sleepy hugs. He also stole the covers, but Hux could manage with that. 

For the first few months, Kylo had fretted when he’d woken and found Hux had wandered to the couch for half an hour with his tablet, to keep the pale light from waking him. Hux had agreed to turn the brightness down as low as he could, and not leave the bed. Kylo stirred a little more, but Hux would keep his back to him, and that was compromise enough.

Eventually, they found their rhythm. Hux woke up sometimes with his head over Kylo’s shoulder, nuzzling his neck and snuggling his butt, and other times with long limbs holding him. No rhyme or reason, just the endless flow of closeness. Kylo was slower to rouse in the morning, but Hux learned he was less of a grumpy Nerf if you stroked his hair as you talked him into consciousness. 

Balance, in all things.

Hux still wakes, though; even after a passionate night, wearing him out to oblivion. He wakes perhaps a few less times, but he still finds himself with cat-eyes in the dark.

Usually, Kylo’s slumber is peaceful when Hux rouses, but other times it’s not. It’s stiff-limbs and shaking, creased brow and mumbled horror. It’s nightmares he might wake from with a thrash, and Hux has to shake him from the _worst_ of those. If he doesn’t, there’s every chance he’ll climb out of bed in his sleep and look for his saber, or he’ll end up in the shower, clawing at the controls. Hux has to shake him, prepared for an elbow or a heel lashing, and duck to avoid a black eye. 

Those are the worst to handle, but they’re fortunately rare. More often is this: the slightly creased brow, the hunched shoulders. Not a full on night terror, but an unpleasant scenario his sleeping self is trapped in.

Hux knows about those. He still has his own, but since Kylo moved in, the worst ones involve _him_ being hurt, not Hux himself. When he wakes from those, he grabs the man and squeezes him, reassuring himself that his Knight still safe.

Right now, his lover mutters to himself, and Hux runs his hand up and down his flank, pushing his nose into his neck, reminding him he’s safe. If he does it just right, Kylo will wake enough to reach for his mind, dip in, and calm down. If he does it just right, Kylo won’t even know (or at least, won’t acknowledge he knows) it happened, come the morning. He doesn’t mind the sleepy, poorly-co-ordinated mental contact, because he knows Kylo’s just reaching for reassurance like a drowning man grabs the shore.

Hux pushes the hair away from his forehead, and glues himself to his back, making sure he can feel the heat from his core.

“It’s okay,” he tells him. “I’m here. I’m here.”  


“H’x…”  


“I know. It was just a dream. Touch my mind if you need to. I’m here, I’ve got you.”  


Clumsy, sleepy fingers push through his thoughts, and Hux thinks them louder, fiercer. He burns with how deeply he loves him, and he feels the endless relief when Kylo relaxes in his arms.

“Love you,” his Knight mumbles, finding a slightly-more-easy rest after a few heartbeats more.  


“Love you too,” he whispers, into the dark.  


Maybe this is why he wakes so often. Maybe it was always to comfort his love. If so, it’s really no harm at all.


End file.
